The coronavirus pandemic has obviously brought real motorsport to a halt, but many of Michelin’s driver partners have been keeping their eye in thanks to virtual races like Sebring SuperSaturday, e-Sport MotoGP and Porsche Supercup Virtual Edition.

Initially scheduled for the weekend of June 13-14, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours has been postponed until mid-September due to the coronavirus outbreak. The 1968 race was also held in September and saw Michelin provide new radial tyres for its partner Alpine.

Sébastien Ogier steered his Michelin LTX Force-equipped Toyota Yaris WRC to victory this weekend to earn his sixth success in Mexico. However, Round 3 of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship was brought to an early close due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In 1979, Michelin demonstrated the superiority of its radial tyre technology by claiming the first of its titles in the Formula 1 World Championship. Forty years on, the French firm continues to see motorsport as a means to innovate and take its technologies forward, especially in competitions that place the accent on sustainable mobility and lasting performance.

Rally Raid: Barreda won the Sealine Rally in Qatar

After a final sprint two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi during the opening round of the Rally World Championship, the Sealine Cross-Country Rally in Qatar was another sprint as after 1912 kilometres of stages, Joan Barreda (Honda Michelin) beats Marc Coma (KTM Michelin) by only one minute and twenty-three seconds, and Helder Rodrigues (Honda) by one minute and fifty seconds.

With Honda back officially in the Rally Raid with a factory team the World Championship reached another level as KTM, which was the single manufacturer involved, has a new and strong opponent. Once more in Qatar the factory riders had a great battle, and during five days Joan Barreda and Marc Coma exchanged daily the leadership of the race.

Winner of the opening stage and first leader, Barreda lost twelve minutes to Sam Sunderland (KTM Michelin) in the second stage and offered the leadership to Coma. Winning again the third day Barreda was back to the lead at mid race, but Coma, runner-up behind Paolo Gonçalves (Honda Michelin) in the fourth stage was the new leader of the rally before the last stage of 369 kilometres.

Starting behind the KTM rider Barreda joined him during the stage and finally beats him by two minutes, to win the race by only one minute and twenty-three seconds after more than twenty hours or close racing! With this second win in his career (the first one with Honda), Joan Barreda is now leading the series, just one point ahead of Marc Coma.

Next round is the Pharaons Rally (Egypt), from May 18th to 25th.

Joan Barreda: “I’m really pleased, finally after a whole week of really hard work I’ve made it. The race was tough, with a lot of navigation. I’m really happy with this victory for me, the team and Honda, this is a just reward for all the hard work that the team has done. We won here four of the five stages, we are two Honda riders on the podium and I’m leading the World Championship, it’s a great result for Honda.”

The coronavirus pandemic has obviously brought real motorsport to a halt, but many of Michelin’s driver partners have been keeping their eye in thanks to virtual races like Sebring SuperSaturday, e-Sport MotoGP and Porsche Supercup Virtual Edition.

Initially scheduled for the weekend of June 13-14, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours has been postponed until mid-September due to the coronavirus outbreak. The 1968 race was also held in September and saw Michelin provide new radial tyres for its partner Alpine.

Sébastien Ogier steered his Michelin LTX Force-equipped Toyota Yaris WRC to victory this weekend to earn his sixth success in Mexico. However, Round 3 of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship was brought to an early close due to the coronavirus outbreak.